Trainer cards (Supporters, Items, and Pokémon Tools) are pivotal to securing victories in Pokémon TCG Pocket as often resulting in clutch wins out of the jaws of defeat! Seven of these cards have been introduced in the Extradimensional Crisis set (A3a), so without further ado, let’s check them out!
Lusamine
Lusamine is THE Supporter in Extradimensional Crisis and she forms the crux of decks revolving Ultra Beasts. As long as your opponent has secured at least 1 point, you can use Lusamine to attach 2 free Energy to any of your Ultra Beasts!
While Lusamine is, in general, a boon for the UBs, the card is mandatory for those with high Energy requirements like Guzzlord EX and Buzzwole EX. In such decks, once you lose a UB like Naganadel, Pheromosa, or Nihilego (all preferably armed with Poison Barb), you instantly add Lusamine to your main UB (Guzzlord EX/Buzzwole EX). And tada! You’re all set to deal massive damage to the opponent.
Lusamine is also vital to making Ultra Necrozma EX work as she attaches 2 random Energy from the discard pile. So, while Lunala EX and Giratina EX churn out the Energy mechanics, Lusamine comes in handy if you lose a card (often required to sacrifice a non-EX card to get Ultra Necrozma EX rolling).
Remember that Lusamine can only attach 2 Energy if you’ve discarded at least 2 Energy in your Discard Pile. For lower discarded Energy, she attaches 1 Energy for 1 discarded or even 0 if no Energy has been dumped into the Discard Pile.
This card has revolutionized the Ultra Beast core in battles and is a match-winning addition.
Gladion
If you play Ranked mode in Pokémon TCG Pocket, you’re bound to have come across the Silvally • Rampardos deck. While Rampardos continues to be a menace, it’s the Silvally line backed with Gladion that makes the deck so dangerous.
So the deck packs Type: Null and Skull Fossil as Basic cards but the latter isn’t guaranteed to get pulled first turn and also doesn’t respond to Poké Ball cards. This way, you’re guaranteed to draw Type: Null first, which can do 20 DMG (40 DMG if a coin flip gives heads) for 1 Energy.
Gladion helps pull another Type:Null or its evolution, Silvally, and puts it in your Hand. Now, Silvally goes 100 DMG at 2 Energy if you use a Supporter in the same turn. And guess what? Using Gladion counts as the use of a Supporter card, letting an evolved Silvally dish out 100 DMG!
Rampardos complements this tech and inflicts 130 DMG at only 1 Energy. Gladion is responsible for making Silvally formidable even before Rampardos comes into play. More often than not, Silvally is all you need to clinch victory, all thanks to Gladion.
Looker
I’ll be honest here. Looker may very well be the worst Supporter to date in Pokémon TCG Pocket. What it does is let you ‘look’ at all your opponent’s Supporter cards. You find out if your opponent has Cyrus, Sabrina, etc lined up but that really doesn’t help you much.
Your opponent is still going to use Cyrus when they want, you can’t stop it. Your opponent would still use Pokémon Center Lady to heal or Red to deal +20 DMG to your EX Pokémon. There isn’t any monumental gain from it except maybe to know what to expect and retreat a vulnerable card back to the Bench.
Repel
Repel is one of the most useful Trainer cards in this set and one that’s going to be super relevant moving forward, as more expansions grace Pokémon TCG Pocket.
It does what Sabrina does but only for Basic Pokémon. Yes, it’s NOT the same thing as Sabrina wards off any Pokémon in the opponent’s Active Spot while Repel only works or Basic Pokémon cards in the opponent’s Active Spot.
You might think Sabrina is clearly better but there’s another point you didn’t factor in: Repel is an Item card and Sabrina is a Supporter card. You can use multiple Items per turn but only one Supporter.
As such, you can only force your opponent to switch out an Active Basic card to something from their Bench, you can also use, say, Pokémon Center Lady to heal your Pokémon or Misty to potentially get tons of Water Energy, in the same turn!
This card is going to see widespread usage in future metas so get at least two copies for sure!
Beast Wall
Many Ultra Beast cards like Nihilego, Pheromosa, Kartana, and Poipole have low HP (60 HP or 70 HP) but they are instrumental to the success of the deck (particularly Nihilego). In such cases, you would want to safeguard their HP from early damage, keeping them healthy for a longer time.
If your opponent is yet to get a point, use the Beast Wall Item card to take 20 less damage from attacks, applicable to all Ultra Beasts in play. It might not seem much but when these low HP mons have high relevance in battle, it’s always a nice idea to keep them thriving as long as possible.
Pokémon Tools are super useful cards that have been available in the physical TCG games and follow these rules in Pokémon TCG Pocket:
- Pokémon Tool cards can be attached to your Active or Benched cards, and they provide some special battle effects.
- They stay attached to the Pokémon in question until it leaves play.
- Like Item cards, you can use as many Pokémon Tool cards as you like during a turn but each Pokémon can have only one Tool attached at a time.
Extradimensional Crisis has two Pokémon Tools and both are extremely impactful.
Beastite
Beastite is a Giovanni-esque Pokemon Tool for Ultra Beasts but better. It helps the UB do +10 DMG for every point gained by you in the match. So, if you’ve got 1 point, you do +10 DMG and if you’ve got 2 points, you do +20 DMG. This is game-changing for late-game situations and clocks in extra damage figures that can help you get the KO against high HP opponents like Solgaleo EX or Guzzlord EX. Assisted by Nihilego + Poison status, it gets even better!
Electrical Cord
Electrical Cord is a great respite from KOs, letting you gain Energy for your remaining cards. Basically, when the Lightning-type Pokémon this Pokémon Tool is attached to gets KO’d, you immediately attach 1 Lighting Energy each to two or your Benched Pokémon.
This is great for Shining Revelry Pikachu EX, Pom Pom Style Oricorio (whom you haven’t necessarily given Energy earlier), or Tapu Koko EX. Zeraora is one good candidate for using the Electrical Cord but obviously, it’s in general good for any Pokémon on the verge of a knockout.
Happy collecting and battling, Pokémon TCG Pokcet-ers!
